Salvage Rights
by SETI-fan
Summary: at the end of "Good Cop, Bad Cop", Vance thinks about Eli David and his own children.


Salvage Rights

Setting: at end of "Good Cop, Bad Cop"

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters

Director Vance watched Gibbs leave his office holding Ziva's approved application and sat back with a satisfied smile on his face. He knew he came across to most of his agents as all-business—hell, he cultivated that perception—but he genuinely did feel happy for them when they had their victories. Especially if he'd had some hand in it.

Vance sighed and looked back at the phone. This was probably going to come back to bite him. Eli was a proud man and wouldn't forget that Gibbs had, in his eyes, stolen his daughter from him. What he wouldn't see was that it was that pride that had cost him Ziva in the first place.

A little more than a year ago, Vance had sat here after another conversation with Eli, that time negotiating for Ziva to be returned to work with them. After that conversation, he had turned on the television and watched Ali knock out Liston, wondering how much of what he'd just heard had been rehearsed.

Amsterdam seemed like a lifetime ago. He and Eli had been much younger then, Vance's kids not even yet a twinkle in his eye. During a quiet point in the mission, though, Eli had shown him the picture of his children that now sat in his office. He'd smiled, telling how well Ari was doing in school, how beautifully Ziva played piano, how quickly Tali had learned to talk. From those days and from the rare times Ziva had talked about her childhood since, Vance had gotten the impression that Eli was a demanding and often distant father, something he chalked up to living in a war-torn country. But there was an underlying affection then that was obvious to Vance. He wondered when that had changed.

Most likely when Tali had died in a bombing. The death of a child had to have profound effects on a father, especially when it was his job to combat terrorism. After that, his job had turned to an ongoing quest for revenge, and then simply become all-consuming, to the point that he was willing to risk his remaining children in the lingering pain of the one he'd lost.

But it had become more than that. When Ari turned on him, it had also made him look bad in front of all of Mossad and even the terrorists he spent his life fighting. When Ziva then began shifting her allegiance to NCIS, it had to be the last straw, his pride wounded too far.

He thought back to that conversation a year ago. Eli had praised Ziva as "the sharp end of the spear". And that, Vance supposed, had been very telling. Eli had always talked about his children in terms of their skills and accomplishments, and he didn't ask Vance to keep her safe, just said to use her well. She was a commodity, and now he didn't like the idea of someone else having those skills at their disposal instead.

Well, tough. Neither Vance nor Gibbs had "stolen" Ziva from her father. Eli had thrown her into a dangerous situation and made no attempt at recovery. If Gibbs wanted to find her and pick up the pieces, then by Eli's own view of Ziva as a weapon, that was covered under good old-fashioned salvage rights, and Vance was prepared to back him up on that.

How did it get this far, that a father could feel so little for his daughter until his pride was jabbed? Vance looked thoughtfully at the picture of his own little girl displayed prominently on his desk. He had told Eli that he never judged him for bringing Ziva up as an assassin, and that was true. If Kayla decided she wanted to join the military or CIA, he would worry about her and pray for her safety, but he would back her up one hundred percent and be proud of everything she accomplished. But if she one day worked for NCIS, would he have it in him to send her on a mission, knowing he was putting her life at risk? Did Eli have that moment of doubt and hesitation sending Ziva to Somalia? Or did his wounded pride speak for him?

Either way…

Vance picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Jacqui Vance."

"Hi, honey. Is Kayla home?"

"She's doing homework in her room. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just wanted to hear her voice."

"Sure. I'll get her."

There was a moment of muffled noise and voices as she went to get their daughter, then that voice that never failed to melt his heart.

"Hi, Daddy!"

"Hey, baby, how you doing?"

"Good! We learned about snakes in school today."

"Oh yeah? You'll have to tell me all about it tonight."

"You'll be here for dinner?"

"Absolutely." He'd make sure of that tonight. "I'm not gonna keep you; I know you're busy. I just wanted to call and say how much I love you and your brother and that I'm really proud of you two."

"We love you too, Daddy." There was a little pause, then she asked, in a voice that sounded so much like her mother. "Did you have a hard case today?"

He chuckled. "Bit of a tough one."

"Did you get the bad guy?"

"Yeah, we took care of him."

"Good!"

"Well, I'm going to let you finish your homework and I'll finish up here so when I get home tonight, maybe we can watch a movie or something."

"Okay! Love you, Daddy!"

"Love you too, baby."

There was another shuffle, then Jacqui came back on the phone. "I take it this case involved a little girl?"

"Just a daughter, but I think we got her to safety today."

"Oh, good! So are you going to be able to shut off when you come home tonight, then?"

"I promise it. I'll be home at seven, hell or high water."

"All right. I love you."

"Love you too."

He hung up the phone and sat for a moment, just smiling. Then, since nothing immediately demanded his attention, he got up and strolled out of his office to the catwalk to look at his people.

Ziva sat at her desk, happily working through a gigantic stack of papers. DiNozzo appeared to be complaining over the approved application, while McGee mediated between them. Gibbs was, to all appearances, focused on his computer, but like any parent, he almost certainly was hearing everything they said and listening for a cue that he needed to break it up.

And there, really, was the difference. Gibbs had lost a daughter violently as well, and Vance suspected he'd taken his revenge in whatever form years ago. Now, though he still mourned for her, he used that to treat his agents with more consideration, not less. And he was surrounded by agents who cared about him like a father, while Eli was alone with his pride.

The man who had lost a daughter and the woman whose father had thrown her away. A twenty-seven-year-old woman did not need to be adopted, but Gibbs had as much as done so when he threw Ben-Gidon out of Interrogation and declared Ziva off-limits. Each was bound to the other by tragedy and deception, but that somehow seemed to have only strengthened the bond between them. The empty desk had been filled and the flow of activity in the Bull Pen had settled back into its usual rhythm like a repaired circuit.

"Director?" His admin leaned her head out the office door. "You have a call."

"On my way." Vance walked back into his office, happy that he had gotten to be the good cop for once.


End file.
